CSWE National Center for Gerontological Social Work Education

Textbook Infusion Project

Curriculum infusion and transformation require that the leading foundation textbooks have gerontological content congruent with the knowledge, values, and skills required to work effectively with older adults. Just as the Gero-Ed Center’s goal is for aging to be infused in social work curricula and programs, aging must be part of the fabric of foundation texts. The Gero-Ed Center has conducted an extensive review of major social work foundation textbooks to assess the extent of aging content; click here to read more about this review. The National Advisory Board and Gero-Ed Center staff will develop a long-range plan for targeting editors and authors (at least two years out from publication date) and will provide participating authors with relevant develop case examples, assignments, projects, vignettes, exercises and foundation content appropriate to the text.

Infusion into a Foundation Research Text

Timing is everything…

Although the National Advisory Board is in the process of developing a long-range strategy related to textbook infusion, Gero-Ed Center staff – thanks to the leadership of Dr. Marla Berg-Weger - was presented with an immediate opportunity to work with Dr. Judy L. Krysik to infuse aging content into her forthcoming text, Research Skills for Social Work. This undergraduate text is part of McGraw Hill’s New Directions in Social Work, an innovative, integrated series of five books, software and custom electronic content for foundation social work courses. Gerontological examples will be infused not only in the text itself, but also specially designed online reader with over 100 articles and book chapters and a case study CD-ROM that offers complex, richly populated case exercises. Other texts in this series were too near completion to be able to incorporate aging content. We are most appreciative of Dr. Krysik’s willingness to consider the materials provided by our staff.

If you are an author or editor of a foundation social work textbook and are interested in working with our staff to identify materials for infusion in your text please contact Nancy Hooyman, hooy@u.washington.edu. The Gero-Ed Center has extensive resources that we are eager to share with authors.